"I knew our programs in Oakland were 100 percent clean," La Russa told the Daily News in a story published Saturday. "But we had our suspicions -- guys hitting stronger but not working out. I went to Sandy and ownership about this. And they told me flat off, 'Right of privacy. It's a collective bargaining issue.' "

Alderson, now the New York Mets general manager, told the Daily News, "I'm not going to comment on that until at least Monday."